New Hellblade Video Details Face Creation of ‘Senua’

Developer Ninja Theory has released a new development diary, detailing the face creation of the game’s protagonist ‘Senua’. According Ninja Theory, Senua’s face is their most “believable” face to date.

The new video is part of Ninja Theory’s development diary. Development progress for the upcoming title, can be followed on http://www.hellblade.com.

Hellblade was announced this year and tells the story of a Celtic warrior’s journey into the heart of a Viking clan and her experiences with psychosis.

In order to ensure a sensitive and accurate portrayal of the subject, Ninja Theory has been working closely with Psychiatrist and Professor of Health and Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge, Paul Fletcher, as well as arranging to consult with people who have experience of mental health difficulties.

Tameem Antoniades, Chief Creative Director at Ninja Theory, said: “In Hellblade we are pursuing creative independence in order to explore a compelling subject matter and gaming experience that would not be possible under the current retail model. In movie terms, this would be a quality independent film, not a Hollywood blockbuster. Digital self-publishing means that we can offer a smaller, but high quality game at around half the price of retail games.”

Ninja Theory is also known for their PS3 exclusive ‘Heavenly Sword’, which released back in 2007. Although the game’s main protagonist does share some similarities, Hellbade isn’t tied to Heavenly Sword in any way, according Ninja Theory’s product development manager Dominic Matthews.

“I saw someone describe the name as someone just putting Heavenly Sword into Thesaurus.com and going, oh it’s Hellblade. It’s not something where we’ve gone, yeah, let’s make people think it is this. We really like Heavenly Sword. We loved making that game. So it’s actually more just we like making female protagonists that look in a certain style. And we like swords. And we like hell. It’s more that”